How to Switch From Journey to Raptive Ads (And Why You Might Want To)
So, you’ve been ticking along with Journey, watching the pennies roll in and quietly wondering if the grass really is greener on the other side. Maybe you’ve seen other bloggers talking about Raptive. Maybe you’ve done the sums on your RPMs and felt a bit hard done by. Either way, you’re here (hi!), which means you’re at least considering making the move from Journey to Raptive, and it could be one of the best decisions you make for your blog income.
If you’re wondering how to switch from Journey to Raptive, here’s everything you need to know: why bloggers switch, whether you qualify, how to give Journey your notice, and what the actual process looks like from start to finish.
Why Bloggers Leave Journey for Raptive
Journey is a perfectly good starting point. It gets ads on your site when you’re still growing and for a lot of bloggers it’s a useful bridge while they build their traffic. There are some pretty compelling reasons why (once you hit that 25,000 pageviews threshold) plenty of bloggers head straight to Raptive rather than staying in the Mediavine ecosystem.
The RPM gap is real. This is the big one. RPM (revenue per thousand pageviews) on Journey tends to be noticeably lower than what you’ll see on a premium network like Raptive. Bloggers who’ve made the switch have reported some significant jumps – one travel blog shared that their RPMs went from an average of around $35 on Mediavine to $54 in their first quarter on Raptive, with some months hitting as high as $57. Even accounting for Q4 seasonality, that’s a meaningful difference in your bank account at the end of every month. This is one of the reasons I moved a blog from Journey to Raptive – my RPMs were pitiful on Journey but they’ve been so much better on Raptive!
Support can feel like shouting into the void. This is a complaint you’ll hear fairly regularly from Journey users. When something goes wrong with your ads, or when you just have a question, getting a timely, helpful response can be hit or miss. There is no dedicated support, only an online community. Raptive has a much better reputation for publisher support, which matters a lot when your ad income is on the line.
More control over your ads. Raptive gives publishers a solid dashboard with detailed analytics, a content optimisation portal, and proper control over how ads are displayed on your site. If you like to tinker and optimise (and who doesn’t when it’s your income?), you’ll appreciate having more levers to pull.
You’ve outgrown Journey. Journey is designed for smaller sites. Once you’re consistently hitting 25,000+ pageviews a month, you’re no longer the audience it was built for, which is no bad thing! It’s a sign of growth, and you should be on a network that reflects that.
Raptive Ads Requirements
In late 2025, Raptive dropped their minimum traffic requirement from 100,000 monthly pageviews all the way down to 25,000. That’s a 75% reduction, which opened the door for a huge number of mid-sized bloggers who previously had to wait years to even think about applying.
Here’s what you’ll need to tick off before you apply:
Traffic: A minimum of 25,000 monthly pageviews. Worth noting that Raptive measures in pageviews, not sessions – so make sure you’re looking at the right metric in your analytics. If you have a high pages-per-visit average, your pageview count could be higher than your session count. I have a blog which gets multiple page views per visit, so my pageviews were higher than I thought.
Traffic source: If your site sits between 25,000 and 99,999 monthly pageviews, at least 50% of your traffic needs to come from Tier 1 markets – that’s the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. If you’re a UK-based blogger with a UK-focused audience (hello!), this one shouldn’t be a problem at all.
Original content: Raptive requires original, quality content. They’re a premium network and their advertisers pay a premium because they know the sites they’re appearing on are the real deal. Your content needs to reflect that – no AI slop!
No advertising infringements: Your domain can’t have any outstanding issues with major ad providers. If you’ve been running ads legitimately, you should be absolutely fine.
Google Analytics: You’ll need GA4 set up on your site. This is non-negotiable – it’s how Raptive verifies your traffic and how your dashboard will track performance once you’re live.
One thing to be aware of: the application process is more selective than you might expect. Raptive’s team personally reviews every application, and only around 18% make it to the next stage. So it’s worth making sure your site is looking its best before you hit submit – good content, a clean user experience, and traffic that clearly meets the requirements.
How to Give Notice to Journey
Right, here’s where things get a tiny bit admin-heavy, but it really is straightforward.
Journey requires 30 days notice before you terminate your account. When you’re ready to go, email them at help@journeymv.com with your site’s URL and let them know you’d like to end your agreement. You’ll get a standard email back sending you to a helpdesk article. On this article there’s a link to a form to complete to terminate your Journey contract – just fill this in and wait for the confirmation from Journey.
A couple of important things to bear in mind though:
- There’s a 90-day minimum commitment. If you’ve only recently joined Journey, you’ll need to wait out those first 90 days before you can leave. If you’re already reading this and thinking about the switch from Journey to Raptive, chances are you’ve been on Journey long enough that this won’t be an issue.
- Get your Raptive approval first, then give notice. Many bloggers apply to Raptive, wait for the green light, and then send their notice to Journey – timing it so the gap between the two is as short as possible. This is the sensible approach. Raptive may also ask for some code to be added to your site, which Journey can do for you.
- Switching to full Mediavine is different. If you were moving up to Mediavine proper rather than Raptive, you wouldn’t need to give 30 days’ notice because it’s the same company. But since you’re moving to Raptive, yes, you do need to send that email.
The golden rule here: get your Raptive approval confirmed before you give Journey notice. That way you’re not sitting around running no ads at all.
How the Switch to Journey from Raptive Actually Works: Step by Step
Once you’ve decided you’re going for it, here’s what the process looks like in practice.
Step 1: Apply to Raptive
Head to Raptive’s website and fill in the application form. You’ll need to provide some basic information about your site and grant read-only access to your Google Analytics account so they can verify your traffic. This bit only takes a few minutes.
Step 2: Wait for the initial review
You’ll get an acknowledgement email pretty much straight away. The actual site review typically takes a day or two, though it can sometimes be a little longer. During this time, Raptive’s team is personally looking at your site – your content, your traffic, the whole picture.
Step 3: Complete the onboarding steps
If you’re approved, you’ll get access to Raptive’s Setup Assistant, which walks you through everything you need to do. This includes:
- Granting Viewer access to your Google Analytics (slightly different from the read-only access above – they’ll explain the distinction)
- Setting up or granting access to Google Ad Manager (GAM) for ad inventory
- Completing Google’s approval process
If you don’t currently have a Google Ad Manager account, this part can take a bit longer. Google sometimes requires identity verification, and if they need to send a PIN by post it can take 2-4 weeks to arrive. Worth factoring that into your timing so you’re not caught out.
Step 4: Give your notice to Journey
Once you have your Raptive approval confirmed and you know your install date, send that 30-day notice email to Journey at help@journeymv.com. Include your site URL, keep it brief and friendly and that’s your part done.
Step 5: Install Raptive’s ads
The actual ad install is pretty painless – Raptive’s team guides you through it. If you’re on WordPress, there’s a plugin that makes things even simpler. You won’t be left to figure it out on your own – Raptive will even do this for you. They’re really helpful.
Step 6: Get settled in the dashboard
Once your ads are live, Raptive’s dashboard gives you a detailed breakdown of performance by article, RPM trends, and more. It’s one of the things bloggers consistently talk about loving. Give your ads a few weeks to fully optimise before drawing any firm conclusions on earnings – RPMs do take a little time to settle in.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
Think about your timing. If you can help it, avoid switching networks during Q4 (October to December), which tends to be peak earnings season. The transition period while your new ads are getting up to speed can mean slightly lower earnings temporarily, and you really don’t want that happening in your highest-RPM months.
Don’t worry too much about the gap. There may be a few days between your Journey ads coming down and your Raptive ads going live. It’s a bit annoying, but it’s short-lived and completely normal.
Check your traffic source split. If you’re in that 25,000-99,999 pageview range, double check that at least half your traffic is coming from Tier 1 countries before you apply. If you’re close but not quite there, it might be worth waiting a month or two.
Make sure your content is doing its best work. Raptive’s vetting is thorough – and that’s actually a feature, not a bug, because it’s why their advertisers pay more to be on Raptive sites. Have a look at your site through fresh eyes before you apply. Is it easy to navigate? Is your content well-written and well-presented? A bit of sprucing up before you submit your application is never a bad idea.
Is It Worth Making the Switch from Journey to Raptive?
For most bloggers who’ve hit that 25,000 pageview mark, the answer tends to be yes. Higher RPMs, better support, more control, and a dashboard that’s actually a pleasure to use – it all adds up. The switching process takes a bit of planning, but it’s really not as complicated as it might seem once you know the steps.
You’ve put the work into growing your blog to this point. It makes sense to make sure your ad network is keeping up.
Good luck!
You might also like:
